#1
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https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/13/europe/rats-hide-seek-intl-scli-scn/index.html

"It has long been known that rats engage in simple forms of play -- rough and tumble -- but we wanted to know if they could do more complex games, like hide and seek," neurobiologist Michael Brecht, an author of the study, published in the journal Science, told CNN.

Holed up in a laboratory with the rats and a selection of remotely controlled boxes, a team of scientists played a version of the childhood game with the rodents, teaching them how to hide from and find the researchers.

Over a period of a few weeks, they found that the rats quickly learned how to hide and seek -- and even started to develop tactics and strategies for the game.

...

But after being discovered, the rats would sometimes "re-hide," even if it meant a delay in receiving their reward -- proof, the scientists believe, that the rats were playing for the sake of it.

Although quiet when hiding, researchers said the the rats "squealed with joy" when they discovered the scientists -- something researchers think shows an understanding of the game's rules.

"They look like they're having fun, they come running," Brecht told CNN. "They're very vocal, they call all the time because they are thrilled about it. But then they hide, they are pretty silent," he said.

#2
UNUSUALY COOL
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Did anyone check the scientists for major depression?
#3
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#4
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#5
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#6
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rats off to ya!
#7
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im usually the first to cry 'anthropomorphism' but i really want to believe this one
#8
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why do animals play? watching calves run around and mount eachother had me wondering
#9
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imo play is one of the (few) topics where you listen to the anarchists https://thebaffler.com/salvos/whats-the-point-if-we-cant-have-fun
#10
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sky rat



#11
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#12
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bless
#13
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It's all fun and games until someone gets the bubobnic plague.
#14
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#15
Dont Mess With Sucess
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my current foster dog rends trash rats with a side of glee
#16
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My dog hunts mice and rabbits.
#17
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oh my rats and garbage
#18
UNUSUALY COOL
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This Rat Kills Garbage
#19
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#20
lies half the time
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wait a sec that's not a vanilla nethack spell
#21
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Articles like these are a good starting point when examining the ethics of killing animals
#22
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marlax78 posted:

watching calves run around and mount eachother had me wondering


um... ill tell you about it when you're older

#23
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Articles like these are a good starting point when examining the ethics of killing animals


I'm honestly undecided on veganism or any stuff like that but it's readily apparent that any line drawn as to what animals are morally okay to test on and which aren't is entirely arbitrary. We can either test on any animals or none at all, really. Personally I lean towards the former.

#24
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For me I only came around to accepting the ethical side of veganism after I stopped eating animal products. Some people get “shocked” into the ethical side then make a change by I think that’s less common.
#25
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I'd be a vegan if it were possible for me, but I can't digest vegetables.
#26
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rats are great! may the best species win (they will)
#27
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Welcome jean
#28
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we don't deserve rats
#29
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They carry plagues that kill tons of humans, so that remains their chief redeeming feature.
#30
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hecking good rattos
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#33
Dont Mess With Sucess
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My current foster dog is a wannabe rat killer, She's only got half of one so far, with me. One was a rat that burst out of some garbage bags and she snatched it up and shook it like a catastrophically unbalanced washing machine while it inflicted superficially ugly damage to her snout. Legitimate kill, lots of rat blood, one point. The second one was a feeble thing that she sort of tossed out of a pile of garbage and bit at, but it seemed like it was poisoned and dying or something, and she was confused and left it alone when I told her to come with me. Half a point for good sportsmanship. The last one was sitting next to a dumpster when she pounced and wielded it at the heavens, her fangs melting softly into its dry puff-ball husk with a visible release of gases, because the rat had been rotting in the hot sun for a couple days already. Grossest thing I have seen a dog do, minus one point. If I wasnt terminally infected with certain ethical behaviors I would take her to highly rat infested places and let her hunt.
#34
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Mine's a complete failure.

She's been after the same rat for a few weeks, came home from the dog park and she cornered him in the bottom of my grill on the patio. I raised the lid and let it bang down, knocked the rat out of the bottom drain hole on the grill, stunned for about 2 seconds. Dog chose to bark rather than grab him, so he took off and made it to the fence

tl;dr: dog is loser, not ready for the revolution
#35
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rodents operate on a much higher plane of coprophagy than canines do, which is sufficient proof of their superiority
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#37
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ratte














#38
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comrade

#39
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#40
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